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Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated The Black Widow in Books
Apr 11, 2022
63 of 230
Book
The Black Widow
By Linda Calvey
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Growing up after the war in the East End of London, Linda falls in with local gangsters including the Krays, Freddie Foreman and Ronnie Cook.
When the love of her life, Mickey Calvey, is gunned down on a job gone wrong, Linda resolves to carry on his work.
But in 1990, after years of living in fear of her lover Ronnie Cook, Linda finds herself accused of his murder alongside Danny Reece, in a trial that shocks the nation. Still, Linda sticks to her code of honour, refusing to confess. Until now...
After 18 years behind bars alongside notorious names including Rose West and Myra Hindley, she is released.
This is the final truth about her life and what happened the day Ronnie Cook was murdered.
This is a book that could go one way or the other. Some may say Linda Calvey is glamourising her life of crime that she’s name dropping and making herself more than what she is. Too a point I can see these opinions. I went into this book not knowing what to Expect I also went in with an open mind. In my opinion it seemed a very honest telling of her life but I only went by what I could read and and see between the lines. I saw a lot of regret especially when it came to her children. I also saw the lure of being offered a glamorous lifestyle. Do i like her or agree with her lifestyle? Not really she did the time for her crimes though! Do i believe her accounts about the murder of Roy? I’m not sure but I’m not a judge! I want to say I really enjoyed this book and sometimes I had to remember I wasn’t reading a Martina Cole novel 😂. Do I buy all the things she did? I do think maybe some embellishments occurred but overall it was definitely an interesting read.
Book
The Black Widow
By Linda Calvey
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Growing up after the war in the East End of London, Linda falls in with local gangsters including the Krays, Freddie Foreman and Ronnie Cook.
When the love of her life, Mickey Calvey, is gunned down on a job gone wrong, Linda resolves to carry on his work.
But in 1990, after years of living in fear of her lover Ronnie Cook, Linda finds herself accused of his murder alongside Danny Reece, in a trial that shocks the nation. Still, Linda sticks to her code of honour, refusing to confess. Until now...
After 18 years behind bars alongside notorious names including Rose West and Myra Hindley, she is released.
This is the final truth about her life and what happened the day Ronnie Cook was murdered.
This is a book that could go one way or the other. Some may say Linda Calvey is glamourising her life of crime that she’s name dropping and making herself more than what she is. Too a point I can see these opinions. I went into this book not knowing what to Expect I also went in with an open mind. In my opinion it seemed a very honest telling of her life but I only went by what I could read and and see between the lines. I saw a lot of regret especially when it came to her children. I also saw the lure of being offered a glamorous lifestyle. Do i like her or agree with her lifestyle? Not really she did the time for her crimes though! Do i believe her accounts about the murder of Roy? I’m not sure but I’m not a judge! I want to say I really enjoyed this book and sometimes I had to remember I wasn’t reading a Martina Cole novel 😂. Do I buy all the things she did? I do think maybe some embellishments occurred but overall it was definitely an interesting read.
Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) created a post
Feb 25, 2022
Louise (64 KP) rated I'll Give You the Sun in Books
Jul 2, 2018
I'll give you the sun follows twins Noah and Jude that are aspiring artists. They are both working on their portfolios to get into a prestigious art school in the local area when a tragedy pulls them apart and they start to live two separate lives.
I loved this book the writing was so poetic and beautiful. The story is written from two perspectives and at different times. Noah's perspective is written when he is 13. 5 years old and before 'said' tragedy struck and Jude's when she is 16 - two years later. At 13 years old the pair were close with sibling rivalries, respecting each others art and dividing the world up.
“I gave up practically the whole world for you,” I tell him, walking through the front door of my own love story. “The sun, stars, ocean, trees, everything, I gave it all up for you.”
At 16 the pair couldn't be further apart, they constantly avoid each other and barely talk. When lies start to unravel and they discover the truth, can they become two once more.
Noah is a painter, he's such a cute young boy, with his confusion of being gay and what it means to come out is so cleverly portrayed through this character. The frustration and tension is palpable between him and Brian. The want of your heart desires and the reality of doing and facing the backlash from the people around you is what stops him. Noah has never been perceived as 'normal' to his class mates and being bullied is a daily problem until he meets the new kid Brian who is a baseball player for his local school, with Brian by his side he becomes socially accepted, even though he knows that Brian is a bit of geek like himself with his meteorite collections.
Jude an ambitious sculptor is a young impressionable girl at the age of 14, however as she is telling her POV at the age of 16 she has had a lot of time to develop but also grieve at the same time. Jude is struggling at school, she hasn't made any good artwork for the past 2 years and believes there is someone out to destroy her pieces. She has one last chance to make it right and is sent to work with a local but famous sculptor. The sculptor has problems of his own and between the both of them they start to overcome their grief through the process of sculpting.
Oscar is not the typical cool guy, who has everything going for him with his distinguishable features, his past and present he is also on the road to self discovery. When we first meet Oscar in Noah's perspective he is a drunk, with ambitions to be a model. 2 years later in Jude's perspective he is a recovering alcoholic/drug user, going to college for photography and has a cocky side to him which covers up the true Oscar.
“It occurs to me that Jude does this too, changes who she is depending on who she’s with. They’re like toads changing their skin color. How come I’m always just me?”
There were only two things that stopped me from giving this book 5 stars and it's not much but I had to factor them in. I found the book a bit predictable in some parts. You could tell how it was going to pan out. Also the ending felt a bit rushed for me towards the end, I think it could have been a bit longer to make the ending a bit more bulkier. The thing I liked with Nelson's writing is your reading away and then BAM! She just lets you have this incredible fact like it's nothing major and I had to reread to make sure I hadn't read it wrong. The grandma's bible that Jude follows got a bit tiresome in the end.
I went in to this book blind, not knowing too much about the premise and I recommend it, I like going in to books not knowing much it is more surprising and enjoyable to read. There are references in the book to famous people and quotes such as Winston Churchill and E.E Cummings. This book deals with love, bullying, grief, growing up, self discovery and all the challenges of being a teenager.
I recommend this book to anyone that likes to read Young Adult and Contemporary novels.
Overall I rated this book 4.5 stars out of 5.
I loved this book the writing was so poetic and beautiful. The story is written from two perspectives and at different times. Noah's perspective is written when he is 13. 5 years old and before 'said' tragedy struck and Jude's when she is 16 - two years later. At 13 years old the pair were close with sibling rivalries, respecting each others art and dividing the world up.
“I gave up practically the whole world for you,” I tell him, walking through the front door of my own love story. “The sun, stars, ocean, trees, everything, I gave it all up for you.”
At 16 the pair couldn't be further apart, they constantly avoid each other and barely talk. When lies start to unravel and they discover the truth, can they become two once more.
Noah is a painter, he's such a cute young boy, with his confusion of being gay and what it means to come out is so cleverly portrayed through this character. The frustration and tension is palpable between him and Brian. The want of your heart desires and the reality of doing and facing the backlash from the people around you is what stops him. Noah has never been perceived as 'normal' to his class mates and being bullied is a daily problem until he meets the new kid Brian who is a baseball player for his local school, with Brian by his side he becomes socially accepted, even though he knows that Brian is a bit of geek like himself with his meteorite collections.
Jude an ambitious sculptor is a young impressionable girl at the age of 14, however as she is telling her POV at the age of 16 she has had a lot of time to develop but also grieve at the same time. Jude is struggling at school, she hasn't made any good artwork for the past 2 years and believes there is someone out to destroy her pieces. She has one last chance to make it right and is sent to work with a local but famous sculptor. The sculptor has problems of his own and between the both of them they start to overcome their grief through the process of sculpting.
Oscar is not the typical cool guy, who has everything going for him with his distinguishable features, his past and present he is also on the road to self discovery. When we first meet Oscar in Noah's perspective he is a drunk, with ambitions to be a model. 2 years later in Jude's perspective he is a recovering alcoholic/drug user, going to college for photography and has a cocky side to him which covers up the true Oscar.
“It occurs to me that Jude does this too, changes who she is depending on who she’s with. They’re like toads changing their skin color. How come I’m always just me?”
There were only two things that stopped me from giving this book 5 stars and it's not much but I had to factor them in. I found the book a bit predictable in some parts. You could tell how it was going to pan out. Also the ending felt a bit rushed for me towards the end, I think it could have been a bit longer to make the ending a bit more bulkier. The thing I liked with Nelson's writing is your reading away and then BAM! She just lets you have this incredible fact like it's nothing major and I had to reread to make sure I hadn't read it wrong. The grandma's bible that Jude follows got a bit tiresome in the end.
I went in to this book blind, not knowing too much about the premise and I recommend it, I like going in to books not knowing much it is more surprising and enjoyable to read. There are references in the book to famous people and quotes such as Winston Churchill and E.E Cummings. This book deals with love, bullying, grief, growing up, self discovery and all the challenges of being a teenager.
I recommend this book to anyone that likes to read Young Adult and Contemporary novels.
Overall I rated this book 4.5 stars out of 5.
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Stuber (2019) in Movies
Jul 8, 2019
Stuber Review
There’s no denying that ridesharing has become one of the fastest growing industries around the world. What used to be a chore of finding a cab company and calling them for a pickup (or flagging them down in the streets of New York) has now been simplified with a smartphone app. What used to be thirty minutes waiting for your ride to arrive has now been reduced to minutes thanks to technology. So, a movie featuring a lovable Uber driver who gets caught tangled up with a cop chasing a notorious fugitive shouldn’t sound like to much of a stretch.
Stuber introduces us to Stu (Kumail Nanjiani) a man who is madly in love with his plutonic friend and pushed around daily by his boss at the local big chain sporting goods store. In an effort to help subsidize his friend Becca’s (Betty Gilpin) spin studio he moonlights as an Uber driver. Fate intervenes one day when Detective Vic (Dave Bautista) who has literally just undergone corrective eye surgery receives a tip that the drug lord who had murdered his partner just months before has turned up again in the city. Unable to drive, and recently introduced to Uber by his daughter, Detective Vic is forced to hold hostage Stu as he tracks the killer through the city in an effort to bring him to justice.
Stuber features a star-studded cast that brings this amazingly heartfelt and incredibly funny film to the big screen. With a supporting cast such as Karen Gillan, Mira Sorvino and Natalie Morales to back them up, the audience is taken on a laugh filled, action-packed movie that certainly shows better than the advertisements would lead you to believe. The characters are instantly likable, and no matter how much cursing (of which there is a lot) and violence is portrayed on the screen that never changes. Kumail Nanjiani does an amazing job as the lovable Stu. His comedic timing regularly hits the mark, and his portrayal of a man longing to escape the friend zone never gets old. Bautista delivers what may be one of the most defining roles that he has played. While he regularly is able to stand out among his peers in his previous films, this is one of the first where he is asked to carry the film on his own shoulders…and carry it he does. The partnership and true friendship between the two is believable and continues to strengthen as the film moves on. I might even go as far as to say that the chemistry between these two incredible actors is magical.
That’s not to say that Stuber is a perfect movie, it’s predictable and doesn’t really bring anything new to the table. It does however handle the cop who can’t drive scenario far better than any movie that has come before it (like that horrendous movie Taxi that came out back in 2004). It’s a movie that could have gotten away with a PG-13 rating with a little less language, which ultimately may have helped it do better in the theaters (only time will tell of course). That being said, the language itself never feels as though it was thrown in for shock value, in fact I imagine that any of us who might wind up in this particular predicament might have a few choice words of our own to spout out throughout the entire adventure.
I got far more out of Stuber than I thought possible. For a movie that has had little fanfare and releases not long after the acquisition of Twentieth Century Fox, it’s incredibly fun and full of just as much heart. To say that I had not expected this to be a movie where the audience would clap when it was over would be a tremendous understatement. It’s good to see that movie studios haven’t given up on fun ideas, even ones that don’t seem to be exceptionally revolutionary or over-the-top. This is one of the most surprising movies of the summer, in a summer full of blockbusters and big budget films Stuber quietly succeeds where many others are likely to fail. Stuber is certainly a movie worth the price of admission, and you might even come out a little happier than when you went in.
4 out of 5 stars
http://sknr.net/2019/07/07/stuber/
Stuber introduces us to Stu (Kumail Nanjiani) a man who is madly in love with his plutonic friend and pushed around daily by his boss at the local big chain sporting goods store. In an effort to help subsidize his friend Becca’s (Betty Gilpin) spin studio he moonlights as an Uber driver. Fate intervenes one day when Detective Vic (Dave Bautista) who has literally just undergone corrective eye surgery receives a tip that the drug lord who had murdered his partner just months before has turned up again in the city. Unable to drive, and recently introduced to Uber by his daughter, Detective Vic is forced to hold hostage Stu as he tracks the killer through the city in an effort to bring him to justice.
Stuber features a star-studded cast that brings this amazingly heartfelt and incredibly funny film to the big screen. With a supporting cast such as Karen Gillan, Mira Sorvino and Natalie Morales to back them up, the audience is taken on a laugh filled, action-packed movie that certainly shows better than the advertisements would lead you to believe. The characters are instantly likable, and no matter how much cursing (of which there is a lot) and violence is portrayed on the screen that never changes. Kumail Nanjiani does an amazing job as the lovable Stu. His comedic timing regularly hits the mark, and his portrayal of a man longing to escape the friend zone never gets old. Bautista delivers what may be one of the most defining roles that he has played. While he regularly is able to stand out among his peers in his previous films, this is one of the first where he is asked to carry the film on his own shoulders…and carry it he does. The partnership and true friendship between the two is believable and continues to strengthen as the film moves on. I might even go as far as to say that the chemistry between these two incredible actors is magical.
That’s not to say that Stuber is a perfect movie, it’s predictable and doesn’t really bring anything new to the table. It does however handle the cop who can’t drive scenario far better than any movie that has come before it (like that horrendous movie Taxi that came out back in 2004). It’s a movie that could have gotten away with a PG-13 rating with a little less language, which ultimately may have helped it do better in the theaters (only time will tell of course). That being said, the language itself never feels as though it was thrown in for shock value, in fact I imagine that any of us who might wind up in this particular predicament might have a few choice words of our own to spout out throughout the entire adventure.
I got far more out of Stuber than I thought possible. For a movie that has had little fanfare and releases not long after the acquisition of Twentieth Century Fox, it’s incredibly fun and full of just as much heart. To say that I had not expected this to be a movie where the audience would clap when it was over would be a tremendous understatement. It’s good to see that movie studios haven’t given up on fun ideas, even ones that don’t seem to be exceptionally revolutionary or over-the-top. This is one of the most surprising movies of the summer, in a summer full of blockbusters and big budget films Stuber quietly succeeds where many others are likely to fail. Stuber is certainly a movie worth the price of admission, and you might even come out a little happier than when you went in.
4 out of 5 stars
http://sknr.net/2019/07/07/stuber/
Sophia (Bookwyrming Thoughts) (530 KP) rated A Wicked Thing (A Wicked Thing, #1) in Books
Jan 23, 2020
<b><i>I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.</i></b>
My all-time favorite Disney movie (in VCR) – along with Pocahontas and Mulan, to which there are literally zilch retellings to my knowledge – while growing up was <i>Sleeping Beauty</i>. I even reenacted it... for fun and on my own (expected of a four or five year old).
And perhaps it is also one of the most difficult tales to be retold. There's a princess who has a curse placed on her that she would prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel before her sixteenth birthday and die – not entirely too much to take a spin on, is there?
No pun intended.
Much as I give props to Rhiannon Thomas for taking <i>Sleeping Beauty</i> on another path, <i>A Wicked Thing</i> is certainly not a book I would enjoy even for the pleasure of reading. In fact, truth be told in maybe a harsh way, <i>A Wicked Thing</i> was funny. And while funny typically means a good thing, I honestly had a field day reading the first three chapters in between chess matches and poking fun at the book (aka making sassy comments that will make no appearance whatsoever in this review aside from a big basket of mozzarella sticks).
<i>A Wicked Thing</i> is almost a sequel to the original <i>Sleeping Beauty</i>. Some time has passed, and then the prince kisses Aurora – all that jazz is pretty much the same aside from maybe happily ever after, to which I won't bother finding out. Perhaps there <i>is</i> a happily ever after by the end of the book – I'm still not going to go and find out because I'm too focused on making it to at least the top 10 in the class now that I'm extremely close to it.
But let's start with the prince kisses Aurora. She wakes up and screams. It probably makes sense to scream when you wake up to a random stranger hovering above your face and actually kissed you. Honestly, a pretty fantastic opening scene – and I'm serious – aside from the part where the "boy" (we don't know he's a prince YET) says, "I did it. I actually did it."
Then I get a sled and start laughing gleefully (read: found it absolutely amusing) while sliding down a hill (read: continuing the book just see how it all plays out because I haven't found reasons to throw this aside yet and then I do).
Prince Rodric, the "boy," is pathetic. The <i>royal family</i>, in my opinion, is a little pathetic and cheesy. Are they actually pathetic? Perhaps not when you really get to know them and perhaps they're marvelous rulers and the people love them oh-so-dearly, but from the little bit of the book that I read and met the royal family, I find myself disappointed. Particularly disappointed in Rodric the princeling because he will obviously make a huge appearance throughout the rest of the book and I've got to at least like the main characters to enjoy the book.
The dear prince blushes <i>at almost every single sentence he speaks to Aurora</i>. I'm pretty sure the amount of blushes will be the equal amount of election commercials soon (Vote for me! Vote for me!).
<blockquote>He stopped and blushed again.</blockquote>
Princeling probably stutters as well, and is most likely a descendant of Romeo.
<blockquote>“I mean, you always look beautiful. But you look especially beautiful tonight. Is what I mean.”</blockquote>
The king is overly cheery, and while there seems to be a probable reason (my son woke up a slumbering princess!), "overly cheery" really means "exuberantly happy-go-lucky."
<blockquote>“Please send out the heralds. A little extra pomp and circumstance, if you please. It is hardly a normal day.”</blockquote>
No... definitely not a normal day. That much I'll agreee with. But isn't celebrating as soon as Aurora wakes up a little overboard? The chick just woke up from a hundred plus years of slumber and everything literally comes crashing down over on her head upside down! I'm not sure Aurora appreciated that – she was quite confuzzled when she woke up (whoa... what's going on here?!) and even protested a little (not that anyone heard her).
Betsy the maid babbles in excitement and is worse than the king.
<blockquote>“I was so honored, Princess, when they asked me to assist you. I never expected it! But then, I never expected you’d be standing here, if you don’t mind me saying. Not that I didn’t think Rodric could be your true love, because of course he’s wonderful, but it always seemed too much like a dream to ever happen while I was here. Things will be amazing, now, you’ll see. Everyone loves you already. How could they not?”</blockquote>
Reasonable babbling of excitement, seeing as she's a humble servant.
But she and everyone else aside from Aurora is also a little naïve with the assumption that everything is going to be fantastic and happily ever after Aurora and Rodric marry, simply based a fairy tale.
Aurora, however, might have been a character that I would actually like had I continued the book. But by that point in the novel, when Rodric and Aurora are first dining together, I was quite cheesed (it was the constant blushing and cheeriness). While I normally feel guilty for throwing a book aside really early, I don't think I feel too guilty in <i>A Wicked Thing's</i> case.
<a href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/dnf-arc-review-wicked-thing-by-rhiannon-thomas/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>
My all-time favorite Disney movie (in VCR) – along with Pocahontas and Mulan, to which there are literally zilch retellings to my knowledge – while growing up was <i>Sleeping Beauty</i>. I even reenacted it... for fun and on my own (expected of a four or five year old).
And perhaps it is also one of the most difficult tales to be retold. There's a princess who has a curse placed on her that she would prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel before her sixteenth birthday and die – not entirely too much to take a spin on, is there?
No pun intended.
Much as I give props to Rhiannon Thomas for taking <i>Sleeping Beauty</i> on another path, <i>A Wicked Thing</i> is certainly not a book I would enjoy even for the pleasure of reading. In fact, truth be told in maybe a harsh way, <i>A Wicked Thing</i> was funny. And while funny typically means a good thing, I honestly had a field day reading the first three chapters in between chess matches and poking fun at the book (aka making sassy comments that will make no appearance whatsoever in this review aside from a big basket of mozzarella sticks).
<i>A Wicked Thing</i> is almost a sequel to the original <i>Sleeping Beauty</i>. Some time has passed, and then the prince kisses Aurora – all that jazz is pretty much the same aside from maybe happily ever after, to which I won't bother finding out. Perhaps there <i>is</i> a happily ever after by the end of the book – I'm still not going to go and find out because I'm too focused on making it to at least the top 10 in the class now that I'm extremely close to it.
But let's start with the prince kisses Aurora. She wakes up and screams. It probably makes sense to scream when you wake up to a random stranger hovering above your face and actually kissed you. Honestly, a pretty fantastic opening scene – and I'm serious – aside from the part where the "boy" (we don't know he's a prince YET) says, "I did it. I actually did it."
Then I get a sled and start laughing gleefully (read: found it absolutely amusing) while sliding down a hill (read: continuing the book just see how it all plays out because I haven't found reasons to throw this aside yet and then I do).
Prince Rodric, the "boy," is pathetic. The <i>royal family</i>, in my opinion, is a little pathetic and cheesy. Are they actually pathetic? Perhaps not when you really get to know them and perhaps they're marvelous rulers and the people love them oh-so-dearly, but from the little bit of the book that I read and met the royal family, I find myself disappointed. Particularly disappointed in Rodric the princeling because he will obviously make a huge appearance throughout the rest of the book and I've got to at least like the main characters to enjoy the book.
The dear prince blushes <i>at almost every single sentence he speaks to Aurora</i>. I'm pretty sure the amount of blushes will be the equal amount of election commercials soon (Vote for me! Vote for me!).
<blockquote>He stopped and blushed again.</blockquote>
Princeling probably stutters as well, and is most likely a descendant of Romeo.
<blockquote>“I mean, you always look beautiful. But you look especially beautiful tonight. Is what I mean.”</blockquote>
The king is overly cheery, and while there seems to be a probable reason (my son woke up a slumbering princess!), "overly cheery" really means "exuberantly happy-go-lucky."
<blockquote>“Please send out the heralds. A little extra pomp and circumstance, if you please. It is hardly a normal day.”</blockquote>
No... definitely not a normal day. That much I'll agreee with. But isn't celebrating as soon as Aurora wakes up a little overboard? The chick just woke up from a hundred plus years of slumber and everything literally comes crashing down over on her head upside down! I'm not sure Aurora appreciated that – she was quite confuzzled when she woke up (whoa... what's going on here?!) and even protested a little (not that anyone heard her).
Betsy the maid babbles in excitement and is worse than the king.
<blockquote>“I was so honored, Princess, when they asked me to assist you. I never expected it! But then, I never expected you’d be standing here, if you don’t mind me saying. Not that I didn’t think Rodric could be your true love, because of course he’s wonderful, but it always seemed too much like a dream to ever happen while I was here. Things will be amazing, now, you’ll see. Everyone loves you already. How could they not?”</blockquote>
Reasonable babbling of excitement, seeing as she's a humble servant.
But she and everyone else aside from Aurora is also a little naïve with the assumption that everything is going to be fantastic and happily ever after Aurora and Rodric marry, simply based a fairy tale.
Aurora, however, might have been a character that I would actually like had I continued the book. But by that point in the novel, when Rodric and Aurora are first dining together, I was quite cheesed (it was the constant blushing and cheeriness). While I normally feel guilty for throwing a book aside really early, I don't think I feel too guilty in <i>A Wicked Thing's</i> case.
<a href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/dnf-arc-review-wicked-thing-by-rhiannon-thomas/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>